Adorable sibling set by kelseymcmargaret on Etsy(Love that the big sister shirt isn’t completely pink)

A blogger at Project Nursery posted a list of their Top 5 Baby Gifts for Second-Time Mamas and I totally disagree with her gift ideas! Although they are all very nice products, there’s nothing specifically useful for a second time mom. In fact, 4 of the 5 things she suggested I already have and don’t need any more of: aden + anais swaddles, awesome diaper bag, handmade blankies galore, hooded towels/washcloths – mine aren’t personalized, but definitely don’t need more. The remaining item on her list, a new lovie, is the only thing I agree with. Older siblings are already going through a lot by suddenly having to share mommy and daddy – we shouldn’t expect them to share toys too, at least not immediately.

I’m weird about a lot of things, but I believe most moms preparing for a second child would agree with me here. So, I thought I’d share my working list of the things I need to get to be prepared for my baby #2. Hopefully it’ll be helpful to other second time moms in the planning stages and/or be a good idea list to anyone attending a second-time mom’s baby shower.

Shrinkx Hips – did it with #1 and I did fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes (eventually) – but I know some moms never get back to their original size, so not sure if it was the Shrinx Hips or just my body, but I’m not risking it. No idea where the first one went.

Another mirror to attach to the backseat of the car

Pacifiers – in case he wants to use one, definitely wouldn’t reuse old pacifiers even if we had kept them. I really believe some babies just like to suck more than others so I’ll get one to have on hand just in case and then more if needed.

New baby bottles and nipples – I’m going with glass bottles this time. But even though my first child’s bottles were BPA free plastic, it’s probably not a good idea to reuse any kind of plastic that much especially when it’s getting warmed up and cooled down constantly. I’m going glass this time.

A new Baby K’Tan (since I just found out my old one is horribly stained with spit up) – I think I’ll opt for the Breeze version this time which is mesh and cotton so it’s more breathable and not as hot to wear (although the original all-cotton version wasn’t bad at all)

Baby bathtub for the sink – I’m thinking the Puj tub (we just took our 1st in the bath with us but I’m worried that might cause some jealousy this time and/or overcrowding, haha)

A gift for our firstborn (definitely don’t forget them at baby shower time too!!)

New burp cloths and bibs – yes we could reuse the ones we have, but brand new, unstained ones would make a nice gift and you can never have enough of these.

Extra crib sheets and waterproof pads – since both our kids are using the same size mattress

Belly cream or oil – mamas can and maybe should still use this stuff for a while even postpartum and it won’t hurt to use it any time on any body part so it makes a great shower gift. I especially love Mama Mio Stretch Mark Butter

Eventually we’ll need a jumper (we got rid of our first one for space reasons)

I attended the 2012 Biggest Baby Shower Ever in New York City hosted by Big City Moms a few days ago and the swag I brought home was unbelievable (see pictures below). In fact, the things I’d picked up just from walking around the vendor booths were already digging into my arms after 2 hours (not the best decision making there but I couldn’t help myself!) so I was feeling pretty nervous as I waited in line to get my official gift bag (not visible from the line). But in a twist of fate, they rolled out a Peg Perego stroller with the gift bag balanced on top of it!!! (which I believe was my shower gift for visiting 40 vendors – they handed out Bingo style cards when you entered – and attending a seminar). And, as you can see this was a literal lifesaver (since I was on my own to get all this stuff home – my personal handbag isn’t even on the stroller in this picture), not to mention AMAZING!

I was a little uncertain about a few things before going to this event:

The ticket price was pretty hefty: $100 for the Super Pass ($125 if bought after 4/1) – was it going to be worth it? As a comparison, the lowest price tickets were $60 for basic entry with no gift bag, which is still substantial.

I had just gone to the MommyBites Summit the previous week. Were all the vendors (and goodies) going to be pretty much the same?

But it turns out I shouldn’t have worried: the ticket price paid for itself instantly since all attendees were given a Mombo Taggies pillow (retail $49.99) and all Super Pass holders were guaranteed a new Britax baby carrier (retail $139.99). Plus the Peg Perego stroller? Um, retail $399.99!!! So yeah, I think I can say, without even opening the gift bags, this event was worth the ticket price.

Second, I visited almost every booth and definitely less than a quarter of the vendors were repeats. Even most of the food vendors were different! And, as you’ll see for yourself below, there surprisingly weren’t even many repeat gifts between the two event’s gift bags (except for Mama Mio Skincare products, which I was totally fine with having more of!!).

So, I have to break this down into the actual event gift bag (which was bigger than a Moses basket for a baby – In fact, if I could find a way to safely convert it into a Moses basket, I almost would) and the gift bag I created just by walking around the event and/or buying products at special Biggest Baby Shower prices. Let’s start with the contents of the official Biggest Baby Shower Ever gift bag pictured below (this was all inside the black tote with pink writing if you’re looking at the picture at the top of this post).

I’m going to try to make this list as organized as possible since it was near impossible to get everything facing forward without blocking the view of something else. Here’s what was inside:

There were food vendors sampling juice cocktails, baby burgers, cake pops for your baby shower, frozen yogurt and baby food if you wanted to try some out yourself. There were stroller and diaper pail demos, lots of photography studios, gorgeous sample nursery set-ups and tons of great speakers (Jessica Alba, Tia Mowry, Dr. Bob Sears, Melissa Joan Hart and many more). Everyone was really excited to be there and the good mood was contagious. I had so much fun and I LOVED all the goodies I got (and I think 99% of them I’ll actually use too!). The Big City Moms Biggest Baby Shower Ever is an absolute must for any brand new or expecting parents.